A memorable weekend...

... sometimes, I'll admit, men themselves have their own bag of tricks to pull.

I was led to believe that the time wasn't right. I didn't question that too much, as I have learned over the years that questioning A's motives and the way he lives life often results in some rather early white hairs.

The night itself? A fabulous cheese fondue complete with white wine at dinner, then icewine, a jet tub, and ultimately, a short speech, or rather long one for A, and then well, the proposal.

Predictably, I said yes. Some things are worth waiting for. As for the rest of the weekend? A well deserved opportunity to relax and give our bodies time to heal from a lot of usual life-stresses.

The ring, and the icewine.

The ring box...

The jet-tub in the bedroom where the proposal took place

A taste of a winter wonderland. The front of Delta Kananaskis Lodge.

A zen-like reflection around the Kananaskis Lodge.

The sun shines on the water at Barrier Lake, near the Kananaskis Lodge.

A set of glasses show off the tranquility of a lunch in Cochrane.

A rental vehicle...

... for me this week.

This year doesn't seem to be my year for decent customer service or anything to do with vehicles. Not only have I had more than enough of bad customer service, for the first time since I have gotten my driver's license, I end up in a minor car accident.

So, I have bitched out CIBC over a month with four calls on the phone. This will result in cancellation of that service. You can't serve me properly, you don't deserve my service.

I have called and told, my insurance agent rather nicely, that I have had enough of running around in circles for the last two months and I want my vehicle fixed. NOW. Don't tell me I have to make the calls myself to the lady who's dealing with my case vs the agent assigned to my file, and don't tell me I have to call the dealership to get a rental. This will result in a new insurance company for me since the one I have can't do the job properly.

Silver lining: the rental has a sunroof. It also has a little display that tells me the temperature currently outside as well as the odometer reading. A push of a button also tells me more information about the car or the trip I have just driven. However, I can't help but miss my own car, still.

A new lens...

... opens up a lot of opportunity to take more photos. :)

The zoom is more pronounced on our Canon 28 - 200 mm lens which allows me to stand just inside my doorway to take photos of the falling snow outside. Guess winter has made it's first trek into the city.

The manual focus works a bit different on this camera lens and it is a touch heavier.

This lens should really come into it's own when we take it with us to San Diego as well as South Africa. It was well worth the wait.

An accidental photo...

The tree outside seems convinced it's Christmas.

Walking in a winter wonderland

Calgary Corporate Challenge 2006

... it was strongly suggested by our office manager that we pick an event to participate in. I hadn't picked up a racquet in some time, but with some practices at the Winter Club we still put up a rather strong showing.

Unfortunately, we were knocked out of the finals by a stronger company but their ladies looked like they played on a regular competitive basis. Regardless, as the saying goes from Dragonboat "you don't necessarily have to win, you just need to have fun".

That really helped steer my mind away from being competitive, which usually means in sports I freeze up; and once I stayed in rec mode, I hit a lot of birds back, and even managed to score a few points for my company in several games.

All in all, we did fairly well; and I haven't posted many of the pictures because it identifies the company I work with. I'm proud to be a part of them, but linking a blog to a company employee can be dangerous depending on their policies about it.

I had a fabulous time, and will be returning to play next year. :)

One of my odder moments; Amy seems unaware of the looming badminton racquet.